WASHINGTON – President Obama, in an impassioned plea to limit gun violence, outlined one of the most ambitious gun control efforts in decades as he made the first move in what is expected to be a stiff political battle that will mark the start of Obama’s second term.

Girding for a fight with one of the country’s most powerful lobbies – the National Rifle Association – the president urged Congress to pass universal background checks and a ban on military-style assault weapons like those that have been used in recent mass shootings, including the one that killed 20 students and six educators in Newtown, Conn.